MIOM Bounty #1: Return of the Combo Video

Long before Melee hit the front page of Twitch (or even before our earliest streams were on Ustream and Justin.tv), before YouTube became the primary location for video storage, and even predating the DC++ hub, Smashers used free Angelfire websites to host videos. Match footage, friendlies, they all were recorded and posted if the person was interested in doing so.

Taking note from other competitive gaming scenes and traditional sports, a light bulb went off. Why not make a montage of a player’s match highlights and set it to music? This was different from many traditional fighting games, these weren’t proof of concept videos; these were in medias res, a dance between the players being shown. And although we don’t have an exact date, we generally attribute the first player highlight reels in Melee to The Punch Crew, dating back to 2003. The combo video was born.

As time went on and the game evolved, so did the combo video. The combos became more impressive and intricate, the editing improved, and they became more prominent as capture cards became wide spread, and options like Windows Movie Maker were everywhere and extremely consumer friendly. The legendary crew DBR would put out their combo videos for individual members, and they each shook the earth. But they fired a warning shot to let you know they were coming.

When they arrived, things were never the same.

The crew combo video’s pinnacle was nearly a movie, a bit of a glimpse into each of the players, but throwing in the action that combo videos were expected to provide. They did not disappoint, and their individual videos kept up that bar for quality. Shined Blind, Overdose, The Hylian Nightmare, Silence,Rollout were all superb videos that each had humongous impacts and inspired players around the world, and still do. And as rare as crews are, a few others have released videos highlighting a group of friends having fun demolishing each other.

Fast forward to the present day. The combo video has become less and less prominent as highlights are more often than not reduced to a gif and not compiled into a montage from a player, or an event. We get top moments and countdowns, but the traditional combo video is becoming a bit of a relic, lost in time. Great videos are still being made, like the No Fox Given series, Luichete Kills, Axe About Me, Qerb Stomped and many others, but overall, the combo video, the one of the most important mediums used in community outreach and inspiration, is fading into obscurity.

Tafokints and I…we want to do something about that. The combo video is an inseparable part of the community’s history, and well…I personally think they are really fun to make. So, how’s about a bit of a contest? Until June 14th, make your combo video, and email it to us at meleeitonme@gmail.com, and on a future episode of Melee It On Me, a panel of guests will pick BOTH the best individual combo video and the best crew combo video based on various factors such as editing, creativity, combos, so on and so forth.

Tafokints will give the best individual combo video’s creator $100, and I’ll match that for the best crew combo video. Submissions have already begun.

Good luck, and again, send your submissions to meleeitonme@gmail.com, title it “Combo Video Submission” or something of the ilk, and stay tuned! We’re looking for just Melee videos, just to keep things consistent. We’re looking for mostly original content, so to everyone who is looking to make a video of M2K’s greatest hits or a TAS montage in the vein of Perfect Control…sorry. We’ll follow this story up in June so you all know who made the cut and who didn’t.

4 Comments

Do you think I can I use combos from any of the pros? I can’t use my capture card, but i believe to have what it takes to win the contest plus, I have been having the same feeling that we need more editors like NinjiFX. I wanted to do similar things ever since last year! 😛

I think its a bit rediculus telling people to use original clips when the point of an editing contest is to focus on the editing itself. This includes the flow of the video, effects, and autuer. The only original content should be how original the editing is. You should be able to use clips from the pros but how you manipulate the clip should be what is judged in an editing contest. Please consider making this change. Unless I read improperly haha then my bad.